Re: Babeester Gor initiation

From: Alison Place <alison_place_at_EZFVO0mQodc1LmPXxSR9uN_oBdOGJtVGSrnukjL9Ak6yB_gWs7UxEF82IJrL_OR>
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 07:39:52 -0700 (PDT)


Hello, Sergi,

Well, Miriel certainly has all the motivation needed to become Babeester Gor. However, I don't see this kinslaying as an attack on the Earth itself. Kinslaying is a different crime, though still deeply heinous. It is the violation of the sanctity of family. The injuries, rapes and killing of the women are certainly crimes that Babeester Gor is vowed to prevent and avenge, though, so Miriel is still initiating to one of the right cults.

If the boss was formally declared outlaw, with full rites, then technically this may not even be a kinslaying because legally he has no clan or kin. Could be relevant to initiation, as well as an interesting legal point to consider.

Given her young age at the time, she probably doesn't know the family dynamics that prompted the attack by her own uncle, so didn't suspect him as the instigator. Is she still on friendly terms with this man, does she believe that he died years ago, or was she never told of his existence? Sounds like he is an outlaw, so she would never have known him as trusted family unless the outlawry was fairly recent. Not that I think that this is an excuse for what he did, but did Miriel's parents grievously wrong this man? Did they, oh, frame him for something so that he was declared outlaw, perhaps for the sake of getting his land? Does even the player know that the boss was Miriel's uncle?

At what age is she initiating? The standard one of roughly 15-16? I remember that my own attitudes at that age were all black and white. If a thing is wrong, it's all wrong. No grey is involved.

I would let Miriel wrestle with the taboos against kinslaying in her initiation. Especially if she once knew and trusted this man, then it introduces conflict. Just seeing the re-enactment of the slaughter without any reaction other than a slavering eagerness to hunt everyone down is too easy. Almost anyone would have that reaction at the time. But will she choose vengeance over any cost to herself? Is she willing to dedicate her whole life to avenging not only the wrongs done to her and her kin, but those to any woman? If she finds out that her uncle was taking the only vengeance left to him, will she reconsider taking the same path herself? If her own parents' shades warn her about the consequences of this step, will she pause to think it through?

I can certainly understand this initiation in the full floodtide of emotions and loss that she's suffered, but I believe that introducing confusing elements would enrich the initiation. Initiation to Ernalda is considered completely normal and right for any girl. Initiation to Babeester Gor should be a much more difficult choice to make, though, as it means that the initiate is divested of the normal life that most women strive to have.

Alison

MIRIEL'S STORY:
Living that nightmare again seems appropiate. One thing she doesn't know is that there was one outlaw that she didn't kill, the boss, who in fact was her mother's brother. That makes everything worse, it transcends a normal vengeance and becomes a symbolic attack on the Earth itself.

She could see the attack without being able to act first, then she at last can fight her uncle and kills him, only to return to the Mundane World and see the corpse of a broo, pulled to her quest.

Sergi Diaz



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